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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330706">How It All Started</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/superpixie42/pseuds/superpixie42'>superpixie42</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Characters die but its canon so it's not really shocking, F/M, How They Met, InuParents - Freeform, Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:09:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330706</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/superpixie42/pseuds/superpixie42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How did a human hime and the demon Lord of the West ever come together to birth the hanyou named InuYasha? A four part exploration of their meeting, mating, and eventual canon deaths.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Inu no Taishou/Izayoi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Inu Parents Day 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Izayoi's Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Part 1</b>
</p><p>
  <span>It was raining. Because of course it was raining on the worst night of her life. Lady Izayoi continued walking down the road, holding her kimono over her head in a useless attempt to keep her face dry. Between the wind, the rain, and her tears her face and hair were beyond repair. All she wanted was a hot bath and a warm blanket. But first she had to get home by walking along this road at least another mile, away from the bloody wreckage that had once been her guard. Seeing a particularly large tree ahead, she rushed under its branches for cover. Watching the rain become heavier she thought back on how her day had gone from bad to worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==--=-=-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had been suspicious since breakfast. As the youngest child and only daughter, Lady Izayoi had a strained relationship with her father. Raised closely with her brothers her father felt  she was too outspoken, too rough around the edges, and too difficult to marry off. Her mother has been in no hurry to send away her only daughter, instead keeping her close and tasking her with reigning in their growing collection of grandchildren. As the years went on and her sisters-in-law continued producing heirs are what Izayoi could only think of as an alarming rate, she had really believed this could be her life. Alone, perhaps, but far from lonely. Now that her mother was dead, her father seemed determined to see her married as soon as possible. So when he asked about her young cousin Saeko, who had recently married the headman in a major trading village two miles away, she knew he was up to something. There was no love between her father and her "lesser cousins" on her late-mother's side. The suggestion that she should go visit - today, in a brand new kimono - should have told her all she needed to know. Still, arriving at her cousin's home to find that her visit would be shared with a dozen eligible bachelors from the surrounding area didn't thrill her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Saeko tried to calm her nerves. "It's a good thing," she said, "he may give you a choice! Or if not, at least you'll have met your husband before you wed him. The same cannot be said for me and my Lord husband." True enough, the same could not be said of her brothers' wives either. Izayoi looked around the room again at her potential future husbands. This wasn't a social visit; this was a silent auction. She knew she wouldn't be asked her preference. She would be shipped off to the highest bidder, away from her brothers, away from her mother's grave she tended every day, away from the only home she'd ever known.  Izayoi looked into the fine porcelain in her hand and desperately wished the teacup was filled with sake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took all over her focus to keep her face neutral and her tone polite throughout the overly lengthy luncheon. Finally seeing her chance to leave Lady Izayoi practically ran to her simple one horse carriage, her two guard accompaniment mounted and ready. They had barely made it half a mile from the village when Izayoi heard the horse whiney - her only warning before all hell broke loose. Shouting voices seemed to surround the small group, bandits by the sound of them. Her guard was small but well armed and Izayoi trusted them to keep her safe. Her faith was not rewarded, however. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shouting was replaced by the clang of katana steel, her carriage jostling as her driver struggled to control the spooked horse. Izayoi tried to keep her balance, but could feel the wheels leaving the road surface. The carriage swayed violently before finally tipping over. She felt her lip split as her face smacked into the wall that was now the floor. She looked at the door above her head and hoped the latch hadn't been broken. Standing up and beginning to push it open, she shrieked as the wet </span>
  <em>
    <span>thud</span>
  </em>
  <span> of a body landed on top of the door. She stood there, her mind racing. Which was worse - facing apparently murdering bandits or being trapped in a capsized carriage under a corpse?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hadn't come to a decision when suddenly the door was pulled from its hinges, the body falling to the road with another wet thud. She couldn't even scream again before a large arm was thrust down through the opening. She flinched away from the arm, pushing her body flat against the roof that was now a wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "Do you want out or not?" The voice was deep, gravely, and clearly not one of her guards. Figuring that if he wanted her dead she would be dead already she gingerly grabbed onto the arm -- it felt like grabbing a boulder-- and allowed the stranger to pull her from the carriage. He set her on the ground in front of him, her back to the carnage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Izayoi couldn't believe her eyes when she looked upon the face of her rescuer. He was.. ethereal. His eyes were glistening amber gems. His cheekbones, so sharp she was sure they could cut glass, were each adorned with a jagged blue tattoo. His hair, white as snow and reaching to his hips, was pulled tight into a tail at the top of his head - the broken strands fluttering about as the only evidence of the effort he'd exerted during the skirmish. He was beautiful. He was captivating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was c</span>
  <em>
    <span>ompletely covered in blood.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Not tattoos. Not a rescuer. A demon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She released his arm as if it burned her and took several hurried steps backwards, only stopping when she felt her shoeless foot step into a puddle. She grimaced, refused to look down, and took a giant step to the left instead. She audibly swallowed and forced herself to regain her composure, standing upright and meeting her death in the eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed..amused?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What is your name?" he asked, stepping close to her again, his nostrils flaring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She refused to move and held his eyes firm - not a difficult task considering his beauty. "Lady Izayoi," she said proud of herself for her calm, even tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You seem more like a scared rabbit than a lady at the moment. And yet, I have no intention of eating you," his voice dropped to a gravely whisper, "unless you wish me to?"</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>S M A C K</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The sound of her small hand across his broad cheeks resounded through the clearing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will not be spoken to like my life is free for barter," she narrowed her eyes at him, making it clear she had understood his vulgar implication "nor my virtue." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She paused, momentarily shocked by her own brazen actions. Her hand slowly returned to her side. While she hadn't even reddened the man's face, slapping a demon was decidedly stupid. Yet, there they both stood. Her demon rescuer had not only not eaten or dismembered her, but had made no retaliation against her assault. Perhaps he really didn't mean her any harm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deciding to press her luck she continued, "If you will return me home whole and unharmed I shall see you are rewarded, otherwise I beg you take your leave."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ethereal man looked almost comical as he balked. He seemed at a complete loss for words, looking first at Izayoi and then into the woods, like he was expecting someone to walk out and greet them. Finally he spoke, his voice ringing with indignation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A reward, honestly? Don't you know who I am?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The demon - the man - Izayoi didn't know what to call him. He clearly wasn't human but his every action was in direct opposition to what she'd been told of demons her whole life. He made vulgar jokes at her expense but was insulted at her offer to reward his honor. She was pulled from her musing by a low growl, like a dog warning that it would bite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A simple no should answer your question and it's implications" was her short reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Very well," said the man, the growl coming from deep in his throat, "scurry home then Little Rabbit. You best move quickly though, rain will be here soon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==--=-=-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had only taken twenty minutes for the promised rain to come, quickly changing from a sprinkle to a downpour. As Izayoi stood under her tree shelter she could feel that her socks were soaked and her clothing was growing heavy as it became waterlogged. Taking a deep breath to steady herself Izayoi came to a decision. She abandoned the two outermost silk layers and her slimy socks; her third layer was spared a muddy grave and she instead wrapped it around her head like a hood. Hoping the dense tree cover would help keep her dry enough until she found a cave or a hut, Izayoi marched into the forest.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Touga's Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Touga marched into the woods, abandoning that.. that… <em> woman </em> in the road. How's that for a thank you? He'd saved her life, offered her a chance to sait the desire he could smell on her clear as day and she'd slapped him. Him! It had been a long time since someone had failed to recognize him. </p><p>After centuries of climbing and fighting he was… unrecognized. He'd spent the last century or so in court, building the political ties to match his military might . He'd married well, sired an heir, made alliances with humans and demons alike and yet somehow he could walk through his own core territory and this woman didn't know him. How had that happened? Had it really been that long since he was out in the human territory he'd fought so hard to conquer? He supposed it had when you considered that most humans only lived half a century anyway. For more than a human generation he hadn't managed his own affairs. He had vassals and staff and officers to broker treaties, manage petty uprisings, and maintain his domain while he hosted dinners and sat on his hands playing the aristocrat he became with his marriage. Before this bandit fight how long has it been since he felt warm blood on his claws? Adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stood victorious over his foe?</p><p>Now he understood why so many demons were such warmongers- always out and in the battlefield. But he didn't want that. When he made his way through the western lands claiming his territory he saw that too many humans caught in the crossfire of these demon wars were innocent. Hell, even some of the demons were innocent, content to simply work their land and raise their families the same as their human counterparts. He was bored and his pride had taken a hit - literally - but there was no reason to risk innocent life. Generally speaking, humans posed no threat and perhaps more importantly, offered no resistance. Where was the fun in conquest when there was no challenge? Humans were no threat to his kind, so he offered no threat to them. Now bandits, there was a different story. Bandits, warlords, they were fun. Confident, power hungry bastards who didn't hold back, didn't surrender, and could even sometimes get a few licks in themselves - making their eventual deaths so much more satisfying. </p><p>And that satisfaction was stolen away by a scared little rabbit who didn’t even know how he is!</p><p>He’d arrived at the river almost without realizing it, his nose having guided him while his brain wasn’t paying attention. Bet that woman wished she’d been kinder now. He would be free of the blood and mud in moments while she would wonder for hours before she found the river with her useless nose. <em> Her useless nose.  </em></p><p> </p><p>Ah, shit.</p><p>The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. She had no idea he could smell her interest in him. Human noses were so useless, their culture so prudish as a result- no wonder she slapped him. He looked up at the cloudy sky and sniffed. He had maybe another ten minutes until the rain started and as soon as it did it would become much more difficult to track her. He groaned at both his rash actions and his very inconvenient honor code. </p><p>Rolling his neck, he focused on the power inside of himself and willed his body to grow, to shift from his humanoid shape into a large white dog. He felt his nose elongate, his ears shift around on his skull, his blue facial markings a perfect match for his new iris color. A benefit of his age was his smooth control over the transformation, his armor and clothing blending seamlessly into his new white fur. Another benefit was the ability to modify his size. While his unbridled true form would have him standing above the trees, he was able to stop himself at about twice the size of a horse. He was still large and imposing, but could move much easier through this heavily forested area. Nose to the ground he began to fast track back to the road. He’d barely made it back to the wreckage before the rain started. He sniffed around the carriage, stopping when he came to the small puddle of blood right next to the broken off door. Remembering that she’d stepped in the blood in her haste to get away from him he realized maybe tracking her wouldn’t be so hard after all. </p><p>She’d ditched the socks. Of course the human ditched the bloody sock he’d been using to track her completely blind path through the forest. She’d ditched the road half a mile back, for who knows what reason, and now she’d ditched the socks and half of her clothing. Lovely.</p><p>It took him over an hour to track her, the rain coming down in buckets severely hampering his nose. He owed the woman an apology - more than one now. She’d managed to find her way off the road and to a fairly wide cave. Her back was pressed firmly against the wall just inside the opening, her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms clutched tight around them like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. She didn’t have a fire and she had ditched another layer of wet robe, leaving her in just her base kosode. The summer air was warm but the rain itself was terribly cold and must have made her garments deeply uncomfortable. He approached the cave slowly, the scent of her fear burning his nose. She would be sending out prey signals to every animal for half a mile at this rate. The closer he got the stronger she smelled to the point where he could almost taste it. Deciding he was close enough for even her terrible eyesight he willed his form to retake human shape. The fact that her fear spiked when his shape changed did not help improve his mood. </p><p>Damn, tonight was humbling.</p><p>“I am not here to harm you,” he hoped his voice portrayed the calm he was aiming for. The woman was half drowned and blind. To say she was vulnerable didn’t begin to cover it and he wanted to be seen as a savior, not a threat. </p><p>“Then why are you here?”</p><p>“I am here to help you.” He took a few steps closer to the cave and was relieved when she didn’t flinch. He took another few steps forward and stopped, just out of arm's reach. “I doubt you can guide me to your home like this, but I will keep you safe until the storm breaks and return you to your family.” </p><p>“And what will you expect as payment?” </p><p>He was close enough now to see her clearly and even with her pitiful human eyesight she should be able to see him. He hoped, though, that she didn’t see him roll his eyes. He closed the distance between them, sitting directly across from her with his back resting on the opposite side of the opening. He let out a deep sigh and relaxed his posture, his arms crossed in front of his chest. </p><p>“Speak with me, little rabbit. It’s going to be a long night and I don’t look forward to spending it in silence.”</p><p>She considered him, her eyes scanning over his form. He was pleased that she no longer reeked of fear. </p><p>“Izayoi.”</p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p>“My name is Izayoi, not rabbit. If you request conversation as compensation for helping me then,” she took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly, “we might as well be familiar with each other.” Her body relaxed, her shoulders drooping forward as she rested her cheek on her knees.</p><p>“I am the Inu no Taisho.”</p><p>“That’s a title not a name. Surely you have a name?”</p><p>He considered her, this tiny little human who was clearly of fine breeding based on her, albeit currently discarded, attire and the carriage she had been when he first found her. And yet here she was, sitting in her underwear asking a demon his given name, as if she actually cared. </p><p>“Touga.”</p><p>“So, Touga,” she smirked, a very unladylike expression, “how about this weather we’re having?”</p><p>Touga couldn’t help but notice Izayoi started to shiver. She had said she wanted to be familiar with him- perhaps a peace offering would show he wanted that as well. He began to untie the shoulder straps of his armor, dropping the heavy plate to the cave floor. Izayoi jumped, reminding him again of her limited sight. She could see his outline, and that he moved, but the details were lost to her.</p><p>“You’re shaking. Wear this, it will warm you up.” </p><p>He shed both layers of his robes and tossed his kosode, warm from his inhuman body heat, on top of Izayoi’s head. At first she held it away from herself as if she was going to refuse, but immediately thought otherwise and wrapped the robe around her like a blanket. It fit more like a blanket anyway, the fabric covering twice as much as her own garment. She stopped shivering immediately and a soft smile spread across her face. Touga found himself wishing to see that smile again.</p><p> </p><p>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==--=-=</p><p>Dawn came more quickly than expected. His gesture had the desired effect and they passed the remainder of the night in lively chatter, primarily regarding her brood of nieces and nephews. He found she needed very little encouragement to pick up a topic and was more than happy to carry the conversation entirely on her own. As much as he wanted to keep talking to her, he knew it was time to return Izayoi to her home. Riding astride Touga's smaller form, she was able to easily guide him once they were back on the familiar trade road. He was pleased for the early hour, the darkness and lack of travelers meant he didn't need to keep too much of an eye out for trouble. Considering the difficulties he was having concentrating, that was a very good thing. The feel of Izayoi's legs stretched across his ribs, the sensation of her fingers gripping his fur, her core rubbing against his spine… it was all incredibly distracting. He had anticipated spending the journey smelling her fear, hearing her heart beating out a horrid staccato but instead she was ... calm. She was riding on top of a monster that could rip her limb from limb in the blink of an eye and yet to look at her you wouldn’t think she was doing anything more harrowing than a morning horse ride through the countryside. Meanwhile, Touga was the one feeling twitchy. His heart was beating too loudly in his ears, and he was distinctly glad she couldn’t see anything other than the top of his head and shoulders. Anything else like the happy swish of his tail or the …. well he was just glad he wasn’t going to get slapped again. </p><p>He could just see the keep over the next hill when Izayoi leaned down to speak directly into his ear. It was unnecessary, as he could clearly hear her from her perch on his back, but he appreciated that she still spoke to him like a person even when he didn’t look like one. </p><p>“Please let me down here, Touga. I will walk the rest of the way and spare you the scandal of being found with a half naked woman.” Not waiting for a reply, she swiftly swung her leg around and slid from his back, her breasts pushing into his side and her robe sliding up, nearly exposing her backside to him. As soon as her feet touched the ground he willed himself to change shape and regain his clothing as quickly as possible. </p><p>“My reputation is more robust than that. Allow me to escort you to the gate.”</p><p>“Your reputation may be but mine is not,” she blushed heavily as she removed his robe, leaving her once again in only her small kosode. “I thank you for your kindness, but arriving in a mysterious man’s clothing would also fare poorly for me.” She ran her fingers through her tangled hair and smoothed out her robe as best she could, attempting to muster up as much dignity as possible given her state. He respected her decision, even if he didn’t agree with it.</p><p>“Very well, but I will follow you in the tree line until I see you are safely inside- I insist. My honor is more important to me than my reputation.”</p><p>She nodded, waiting while he regained his animal shape and retreated into the treeline. He watched as she made her way up the road, to the gate, and inside. He could hear raised voices, but when she didn’t cry out and the keep became quiet again Touga took his leave, expecting to never think of the strange little rabbit again. </p><p>He was very wrong. </p><p>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==--=-=</p><p>Touga, the Inu no Taisho, Lord over the western lands… had a crush. A foolhardy, childish, idiotic crush. After only one evening together, spent at opposite sides of a cave, he found himself unable to forget that strange woman. Izayoi. She was so ...unexpected. She never said or reacted to anything in the usual way: she spoke so freely and so confidently, she was so dignified without the usual pretentious air of the aristocrat, she was so fragile and gentle. So human. It didn't help matters that he was completely unable to bring himself to wash his robes, choosing instead to envelop himself in her scent. It had been three days since he'd seen her and now he considered drastic action. It wasn't uncommon for men of his status to have a mistress or even a second wife. It was however unheard of for a demon of his status to have a human as anything other than dinner. Perhaps breaking the norm would be another benefit of age and power. First, though, she would need to agree. </p><p>He waited until nightfall to return to Izayoi's home. Easily scaling the outer wall he followed his nose to the places she frequented most - finding himself first in the dining room, then a nursery, and finally to her private chambers. Scenting no one near he taped his knuckles against the frame of her door and waited. She slid open the door in just her sleeping yukata, barely even looking up from the book in her hand. Finally looking up and realizing just <em> who </em> was at her door her eyes snapped open and her book dropped to the floor. Grabbing his chest plate with both hands she pulled him immediately into her room and slammed the door, shaking it in its frame. </p><p>"<em> What are you doing here? </em>" she screeched, clearly having no grasp of how much noise she was making. </p><p>"I came to ask about your welfare, ensure you weren't ill," he said. It was mostly true after all and a better conversation starter than his primary objective. </p><p>"So you broke into my home?"</p><p>"I broke nothing."</p><p>"That's not what I mean and you know it." She glared at him, walking back to the door to collect her book. He was so distracted by her long legs as she bent at the waist that he nearly missed her question. </p><p>"Why not come to the window?" She righted herself and pointed to the large window that took up most of the far wall of her room. </p><p>Ah, yes, that would have been better. </p><p>He looked around the room for the first time. It was simple but elegant, clearly furnished with comfort in mind rather than lavish decoration. He moved further into the room and took a seat on one of the two cushions set beside a small, low table. </p><p>"I shall do so next time, then."</p><p>"Next time?" She raised a brow at him, "You expect to make regular visits to my bedroom?" She smiled and took a seat on the remaining cushion, setting the book on the table. </p><p>"I do," he voice dropped to a low, confident rumble. He reached across the table and claimed her hand, the intimate touch turning Izayoi's cheeks a very becoming shade of pink. "I have a proposition for you, little rabbit."</p><p>"O-oh?" He could hear her heart beat increase slightly, nerves clearly building in her chest.</p><p>"I propose a union - informal though it may be." </p><p>"A what?" She pulled her hand from his and placed both firmly in her lap. "Please, speak plainly." </p><p>"I wish for you to become my mistress. However, I cannot offer you the place in court it would usually offer you." He watched as the pink became a blotchy red, color spreading from her collarbone to her nose. He'd anticipated this, though, and soldiered on, "Worry not, you will be compensated."</p><p>"That is not my concern." Her words were clipped, her tone had lost the playful air he'd grown so accustomed to.</p><p>"What is your concern then? I cannot offer you the title, but I assure you I can offer you <em> everything </em> else." He flashed her his most dashing smile, his amber eyes bright and full of promises. It did not have the desired effect; the opposite actually. She smacked her palms down onto the table and stood taking three quick steps away from the table so she could turn her back to him.</p><p>"All you have offered me is the chance to be your plaything. If I want a man in my life who is only interested in the pleasures of my body I can wait until I have a husband. Your offer is refused."</p><p>He didn't understand. Women- human and demon alike- had used the position of mistress for the independence, power, and pleasures it offered them for millenia. And yet she would reject it for its lack of formality?</p><p> "I have offended you?"</p><p>She turned her head and it was clear years of education in deportment were the only thing keeping her from swearing a blue streak. </p><p>"If it is a matter of the title-"</p><p> She cut him off. "I thought you enjoyed my company."</p><p>"I do, very much."</p><p>"Then why would you," she seemed to be considering her next words carefully, hesitant to say whatever it was she had rolling around in her mind.</p><p>He decided to give her a push. "Please speak plainly, as you asked me."</p><p>She took a full breath through her nose, releasing it slowly, turning her gaze to the floor. "It doesn't matter. I was foolish to assume a demon would want anything else from a mortal woman. Your offer is rejected, Inu no Taisho. Good night, my lord." </p><p>The formality struck him a thousand times worse than her slap. She wasn't just rejecting his offer, she was rejecting him. Again, though, he found her words and her scent at odds with each other. She clearly smelled aroused when he took her hand, yet she said she didn't want a lover. Now her tone was final and angry but he could smell the salt of her tears threatening to fall at any moment. He needed time to think.</p><p>"Very well Izayoi," she bit her lip to keep from responding to his familiar use of her name, "may I call again tomorrow? I feel there is more for us to discuss."</p><p>"I don't think that would be a good idea." </p><p>She refused to look at him as he stood and made his way to the door. </p><p>When he returned the next day, to the window like she suggested, she refused to acknowledge him. She continued to refuse him for over a week. He still came every night, and every night he said the same thing. He greeted her by name, offered his apologies for insulting her, and asked if she would speak with him. </p><p>On the ninth night she accepted his apology.</p><p>On the tenth night she spoke with him through the closed window.</p><p>On the eleventh night she opened the window.</p><p>When Touga returned on the sixteenth night he found her sitting in the courtyard garden that her window looked into.</p><p>“I did not expect to see you here.” Walking past his usual place below her window he took a seat on the stone bench beside her.</p><p>“It seems unfair that you get to enjoy the garden and I do not,” she crooned, her very unlady smirk spread across her lips.</p><p>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==--=-=</p><p>The month was nearly over, their nightly talks an uninterrupted ritual he had come to cherish. During the day he was surrounded by demons vying for his attention, for his favor. Nights with Izayoi were different though; calm and genuine. He first came to see her hoping to get her out of his head by spending the night between her legs. Now? Now he never wanted to leave her side, even if she never touched him. </p><p>Except she did touch him. She touched his arm when she laughed, she bumped her shoulder against his arm while they walked. Once she even allowed him to hold her in his arms and leap over the keep wall to walk through the woods in the light of the full moon. She’d giggled like a child and begged him to take her running and leaping through the trees. Still, even with all these signs of her interest in him both as a friend and <em>as</em> <em>a man </em>he was hesitant to ask her to reconsider taking him as a lover. The Inu no Taisho had never shied away from a fight, and yet he found himself terrified to ask this little human woman the question burning in his chest.  </p><p>He found his courage on the next rainy night. Usually when it rained he avoided Izayoi, wishing her to stay inside and dry. This time, though, he hoped to have a chance to undo the disastrous events of his last visit to her room. Like the first time he went through the keep and knocked on her bedroom door and, like the first time, she answered without looking up from her book. In all his centuries he had never met another woman who read as voraciously as she did. This time though, she didn’t panic at the sight of him but silently welcomed him, trusting his discretion to have entered unseen. </p><p>“I didn’t think I would see you tonight,” she said as she led him to take a seat at her small table. </p><p>“I had something I wished to speak to you about,” he heard her heart skip a beat but was proud that she managed to school her features.</p><p> “Oh?”</p><p>Again, he reached across the table and claimed her small hand in his.</p><p>“I would like to court you, if you would permit me.”</p><p>She didn’t pull away, but her shoulders did sag noticeably.</p><p>“I have already given you my answer. Why do you spend so much time asking foolish questions of a mortal woman?”</p><p>“As a demon, I have all the time in the world to spend how I choose. I would like to spend as much with you as I can.” She looked unconvinced, her attention fixed on their hands, their fingers becoming intertwined almost of their own accord. “And because I find myself falling in love with you, little rabbit."</p><p>Her head snapped up, her eyes scanning his face, looking for any sign of insincerity in his expression. </p><p>She spoke in a whisper. "Demons do not love."</p><p>"How many demons have you asked?” Izayoi had the good graces to blush, clearly she had never actually asked any. He continued, his voice warm and hopeful. “We do love, quite intensely."</p><p>She licked her lips, her grip on his hand tightening slightly. After a small eternity her face split into a bright grin. He felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest as he released the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. FInally she spoke.</p><p>“I think I would like that very much.” </p><p>He stood, using their joined hands to pull her to her feet and stand in front of him. He stooped down and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek- a kiss he hoped to be the first of many. </p><p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://heavenin--hell.tumblr.com/post/618926814177460224/this-story-belongs-to-superpixie42-you-can-read">
    <strong>Fan art for the final scene created by Heavenin--Hell over on Tumblr: </strong>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And so it begins! Parts 3 and 4 will be up on my Tumblr (superpixie42) first. I also highly recommend you visit https://heavenin--hell.tumblr.com as she's the AMAZING artist and comic maker who inspired this whole story.</p>
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